The Tennessee Titans seem to be on the upswing after turning a slow start to the 2019 season into a playoff run that ended in a 35-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
Surely, with a solid 2020 NFL Draft in the books and both quarterback Ryan Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry secured, the Titans are in a position to make a push for a Super Bowl appearance this year… right?
Not exactly, at least according to how CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco is drawing it up.
When Prisco released his NFL Power Rankings roughly a week ago, he had the Titans right in the middle of the pack at No. 16 overall. That’s right behind the Pittsburgh Steelers and just ahead of the New England Patriots.
“They will be the same team as a year ago: run-heavy with Derrick Henry and hope the defense can step up,” he wrote. “They have a 9-7 look about them.”
This is the lowest ranking we’ve seen for the Titans in any power rankings this offseason. Typically, we’ve seen Tennessee get ranked anywhere from No. 5 to just barely inside the top 10.
To be fair, it’s not really outlandish to predict that the Titans finish with a 9-7 overall record considering, well, how many times they have done just that consecutively (four years in a row).
But with the Titans’ drastic boost in success after the team decided to hand the reins to Tannehill after having a dismal record of 2-4, shouldn’t they be much stronger in 2020 with him starting at quarterback from the first game onward?
The Titans — and Tannehill, for that matter — have been inconsistent historically, so only time will tell if they can continue to put some meaning into their “good to great” motto this year.
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